Fishing in Ras Al Khaimah

Ras Al-Khaimah is one of the seven United Arab Emirates, and offers some 35 miles of coastline on the tip of the Musandam Peninsula, not too far from the Strait of Hormuz that joins the Arabian (Persian) Gulf with the Gulf of Oman. Fishing is an ancient tradition in the area that has not lost its importance in modern times, the emirate being not as rich in oil and gas as other members of the union. Numerous captains and charter boatscharter boats are there to take you fishing nearshore, or undertake a journey into the Strait of Hormuz, a bottleneck for migrating pelagic fish. Other tourist activities include hiking in the mountains, relaxing on sandy beaches in cozy bays, and visiting ancient and abandoned fishing villages. You should better schedule your trip to the month between October and May, though, to escape the scorching Arabian sun.

Although Ras Al-Khaimah, the capital city of the emirate, stands on a creek and borders a large mangrove lake, fishing in the emirate is a marine activity. Basically, you have a choice between a nearshore fishing trip in the bays and the mangroves, with light tackle, or a longer offshore trip to the Strait of Hormuz with heavy tackle after tuna and similar big-game fish. A typical craft for both is a speedy, central console boat with two or three powerful outboard motors, equipped with all necessary items from rods and reels to coolers with soft drinks. Just don’t forget sun screen!

The coastline of the Ras Al-Khaimah emirate features the typical aquatic fauna of the Arabian Gulf and the mangroves, with such fishes as hamour, barracuda, trevally, cobia, a variety of snappers, groupers and emperors. Only a few nautical miles away, however, lies the Strait of Hormuz, a bottleneck both for trade vessels and for migrating pelagic fish, starting with king mackerel, and continuing to dolphin (Mahi-Mahi), longtail tuna, sailfish and marlin.

Humankind has been living in Ras-Al-Khaimah without interception for at least 7,000 years, and all of those years they have been fishing, applying well-known techniques such as bottom fishing, spinning, jigging and trolling, as well as inventing unique local methods. That doesn’t only include ingenious fish traps. In the Strait of Hormuz captains follow the supertankers that bring the oil and liquified natural gas out of the area, knowing that the fish prefers to hide from the sun in the shade of the enormous vessels. Shoals of mackerel and other baitfish attract tuna, sailfish and marlin, which are the magnet for both commercial and recreational fishing boats. Some local knowledge is essential, however, as one’s maneuvers around supertankers is impacted not only by marine interests, but also by the security measures to protect the valuable oil industry.